Tag Archives: Mumbai

Each week about this time I report in on how social networking technologies (usually Facebook) and politics (usually Planned Parenthood) interact. This week, I’m still going to do that, but I’m going to point to an article I heard last night on NPR’s All Things Considered. Referencing the work of Howard Rheingold, author of Smart Mobs, Phillip Reeves interviewed a number of Mumbai citizens using txt messages to organize a mass protest Wednesday (today).

Reeve notes that the texts urge people to consider holding the Indian government accountable:

The real terrorists are not only those who have come through boat but those who have come through vote. We can change the system, if America can why can’t India? Please pass it on.

Although I’m so sorry to hear about the events in Mumbai last week, I suddenly felt this huge sense of relief. America is, again, a model for peaceful transitions of power and the potential for democracy to hold the powerful accountable. Suddenly, I know America made the right choice. Obama is the person we need to show the world and just moving away from the policies of the Bush years is already restoring some of America’s standing abroad. Continue reading →